‘Most conservative president since Calvin Coolidge’

A couple of campaign notebook items left over from Rick Perry’s Saturday prayer-fest at Reliant Stadium and subsequent speculation about whether he’ll be doing the Charleston this weekend in South Carolina as prelude to his White House plans:

From Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia and oft-quoted commentator on all things political:

“There’s no question that Perry will become a finalist on the GOP side the instant he enters the race. The other obvious finalist is Mitt Romney. Until we see the results of the Ames straw poll, I don’t think it is fair to rule the other candidates in or out of the top tier. Michele Bachmann has been polling well in Iowa, and Tim Pawlenty is in an all-out fight for a top showing. The undercard candidates may surprise too—Paul, Santorum, Cain, etc.

“In any event, Perry will be in the top rung. He has the regional support, the experience and the money to be a finalist. It is foolish to go beyond that at this early point. I’m sure Romney and others have done their opposition research on Perry, and every new candidate gets roughed up a bit on the trail by the media and opponents. We’ll see what turns up.

“Texas is actually a big plus for Perry in the nominating battle. Southern states have lots of bonus delegates because they have voted GOP so often, and they like to back a fellow Southerner. It’s in the general election that Perry could be a tough sell. He’s to the right of George W. Bush, and it is hard to see him carrying any normally Blue state. The country had enough Texas to last a while in those eight Bush years. However, if the economy continues its downward spiral, any Republican presidential nominee who can portray himself as within a stone’s throw of the mainstream will have a good chance to win. Presidents get the credit for good times and the blame for bad times, and Obama is no exception.

“I’d like to stress that 15 months is a long time. The experts were much too optimistic about the economy and Obama’s reelection for a long time. Now I’d bet they are too pessimistic on both. I’m watching economic growth (GDP). If that spurts upward significantly, even in the second half of 2012, Obama could bounce back, even if unemployment stays stubbornly high.”

From Richard Land, director of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and an honorary co-chair of The Response, Perry’s prayer event (Land, who grew up in Houston, is a sixth-generation Texan):

“I thought it [The Response] was a great event. It looked like the kaleidoscope of America. In fact, it looked more like America than most of our churches do. I was really impressed with all the young people there.”

“I think if Rick Perry runs, he’ll be a serious candidate. Republicans will be looking at two polls: First, how they’d doing against each other, and second, how they do against Obama. Republicans really, really want to beat ‘Alibi Ike.'”

“Rick Perry is everything they tried to made George Bush be that he wasn’t. He jogs with a handgun; they may faint when they find that out in Connecticut. It’ll put PETA on Prozac when they find out he actually shot a coyote. He’s the real deal.”

“Of course, a sizeable number of Americans don’t like Texans. I can live with that. It’s the price you pay for being the best. I actually think that’s his biggest hurdle.”

“I’m just not sure the country’s ready for George Bush on steroids.”

“It’s a myth that the Religious Right won’t vote for a woman. The majority of people who vote in Republican primaries are women, and they admire strong women. Bachmann looks to me like a coachable Palin. She gets better every time I hear her speak. . . . We could be watching the creation of an American Maggie Thatcher.

“Evangelicals are not anti-women. They’re not to be the head of a church, and they’re not to be the head of a home, but those are the only two restrictions.”